Samsung Electronics management proposes another round of talks to unions ahead of possible strike

With a large-scale strike seeming imminent, both Samsung Electronics' management and the government are trying to get the union back to the negotiating table after discussions collapsed earlier this week. The union, however, is standing firm in its decision, asserting that its core demands must be on the agenda before it agrees to sit down.

The National Labor Relations Commission, the state labor watchdog and mediator for the talks, formally asked on Thursday that both sides reconvene on Saturday. “We recommend a second postmediation session to give labor and management another opportunity for sincere [...] and substantive negotiation to resolve their differences on their own,” the commission said.

That same day, Samsung Electronics sent official letters to its two main unions — the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union (SGUU), the conglomerate's cross-affiliate union, and the National Samsung Electronics Union — proposing direct talks. “During the recent postmediation process at the National Labor Relations Commission, both sides conveyed their positions but were unable to reach an agreement,” the company wrote. “We are therefore proposing that labor and management engage in direct dialogue.”

Samsung Electronics' labor and management failed to reach an agreement on wages and profit-sharing after two grueling days of government-mediated negotiations in Sejong from Tuesday to Wednesday. The strike, which is set to begin on May 21 and end on June 7, could cost the chipmaker up to 30 trillion won ($20.1 billion) in losses. More than 41,000 members have already pledged to participate.

Whether the unions will accept the proposal remains unclear. The SGUU said that it currently has no plans to negotiate and that it would only consider doing so if the agenda includes making bonus transparency and the abolition of the bonus cap formal policy. Union head Choi Seung-ho also reportedly created a private Telegram group chat for union members, through which he expressed his frustration with the government and suggested that the mediation process was “beyond salvaging.”

Choi also reportedly stated it was “nonsense to put to a vote by union members even without a tentative agreement,” apparently suggested by the commission.

The deadlock centers on how profits from the semiconductor upcycle should be shared with employees and how performance bonuses are calculated and capped. Samsung has proposed maintaining its existing bonus system, which is based on the economic value added, and its current cap, as well as offering an additional special bonus equivalent to 12 percent of its operating profit if the semiconductor division ranks first in both revenue and operating profit. The union, however, is demanding a separate bonus pool equivalent to 15 percent of the semiconductor division's operating profit, and the abolition of the current cap that limits bonuses to 50 percent of annual salary, with both changes codified as formal policies.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM YEON-JOO [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]